7 Common Lead Generation Mistakes You Can Easily Avoid

Creating a lead generation campaign that attracts highly qualified leads is a mighty goal. It would be easier to take the ‘spray and pray' route, but that's not how successful (and lasting!) brands are built.

The reality might be that your efforts to ​generate leads and convert them into loyal customers aren’t giving you the results you were hoping for.

These lead gen mistakes are so common in fact that they’re often overlooked, but at the same time, very easy to avoid... Knowing where most fail in the lead generation ​process will help you turn your​ lead generation strategy into one that will be a ​massive success ​and will skyrocket your profits!

Whether you’re creating your first lead generation campaign, or you’ve been doing ​lead generation marketing for years, make sure to avoid these seven common lead ​gen campaign mistakes.

1. Asking For Too Much

The first misstep that can hurt an otherwise incredible lead generation campaign is asking for too much, too soon. When it comes to asking for personal information, especially emails, you need to ask in terms of what you’re offering.

It’s important to realize that not all your leads are going to be ready to buy into your main product on their first visit. Additionally, no one enjoys being rushed into anything, and it’s not a great way to start a relationship with a customer.

TIP: Lead nurturing techniques, like webinars, can help people ‘on the fence’ get more comfortable and familiar with what you’re offering.

Take the time to nurture leads and warm them up to conversions through effective lead generation techniques. This will ​generate leads that are high-quality with a genuine interest in your products or services. Plus, high quality leads save you time and money, producing a great return on your ad spend.

2. An Irrelevant Offer

In your lead ​gen campaign, your offer should be something your target audience actually wants so you can generate leads. Your offer needs to be relevant and provide value to your target audience and does so in a way that gives them a reason to click.

There are dozens of different opt-in offers and lead generation tools to encourage potential customers to hand over their email, but they won't all suit your business or brand. If you create an opt-in offer that relates to who is visiting your site and the reason why they’re visiting, your lead campaign is sure to succeed.

Just remember, the key to creating an opt in offer that is both effective and irresistible is applying the creativity that is right for you and your target audience!

3. Showing Features & Not Solutions

A common mistake in many lead generation campaigns is too much focus on showing off the features of the offer. Many forget to put the benefit of their offer front and center.

It’s important to inform leads how your opt-in offer will benefit and help them. Display the benefits of your offer to potential leads will generate interest, but, don’t forget to promote those benefits in a way that shows the problems they solve.

4. Neglecting To Show Credibility

The worst thing you can do in your lead gen efforts, is to not flaunt your authority. Remove any irrelevant facts in your copy to replace with reasons (and proof) of why leads should become opt in.

Testimonials and reviews are highly influential tools to generate new leads for your business. Seeing real people who have found success has a powerful impact that encourages leads to trust you and your offers.

5. Failing To Create A Sense Of Urgency

As humans, we really need ‘deadlines.’ Once you have a visitor on your website, it is your job to stop them from leaving before they convert. Reminding your audience that the clock is ticking or availability is running out, raises the urgency level and encourages​ leads to convert.

When a lead feels and understands that there is a limited amount of time to make a decision, it adds urgency.

When Noah Kagan created his free email course on marketing, he initially allowed only a seven day enrollment period. Eventually, he created a wait list for second round of enrollment. By using this scarcity tactic to generate new leads, he tripled his email subscribers (from 12,000 to 50,000) for his marketing blog.

Countdown timers, limited time offers, and powerful words are just a few of the effective ways you can create a sense of urgency in your lead generation strategy. But the objective is to show potential leads how much time is left if they don’t act now.

​Creating a sense of urgency is a powerful technique but with great power comes great responsibility. Too much pressure on your leads is a terrible thing. You want to create urgency that still lets visitors feel that they’re making their own decisions, not being forced into something they don’t want.

6. Weak Call-To-Actions

It’s crucial that the conversion process for visitors is as smooth and straightforward as it can be. One of the most common mistakes that stands in the way of achieving that is a weak CTA. Without an effective call-to-action, your lead generation campaign will fall flat, and never be successful.

When it comes to call-to-actions in lead generation campaigns, it’s crucial that it is clear, concise, and uses a power verb to encourage visitors to take action. Make the CTA clearly visible on the landing page, and include powerful copy on the button.

7. Lack Of Tests & Optimizations

It’s not always easy to see the small mistakes in the design or strategy, but forgetting to test and optimize your lead generation process means you’re missing out on getting every lead possible. It’s actually quite common that lead generation campaigns are created and ran without any further testing or optimizing.

Which is a shame considering many of the marketing tools out there make it so easy! A/B testing your lead generation strategies will show you what is and isn’t working in your lead generation ​process. Split test to determine the most effective lead generation ​techniques that are unique to your business.

Some good things to A/B test as you generate leads, are colors, CTAs, page length, and images. Continue to test, test, test every piece of your lead generation ​marketing to ensure ​your lead gen campaign is performing at its peak!

Wrapping Up

At the end of the day, understanding these common mistakes will make it easier to avoid making them in your lead generation campaigns. Which allows you to run campaigns that will bring in massive amounts of new leads to grow your business.

Have you made any of these lead generation mistakes? Can you think of any others you’ve witnessed over the years? Let’s keep up the conversation, let me know in the comments!

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Caitlin

Caitlin is an Austin-based digital marketer and writer with a passion for content. She is the newest member of the Performance Marketer team and brings years of marketing experience, as well as the best recommendations for where to go for lunch.

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